NC State VS. Virginia

TEAM SCORES

Women

Virginia 178, NC State 117

Men

NC State 193, Virginia 100

The NC State Wolfpack and Virginia Cavaliers split Friday in one of the most intriguing ACC dual meets of the 2017-2018 season. The two teams have accounted for all except two ACC championships since the 1998-1999 season on the men’s side, and all of the last ten women’s championships. Granted, Virginia has won the lion share’s of those, but NC State has been one of the hottest teams in the NCAA over the past few seasons, and Friday marked the first dual meet between the two teams since former NC State assistant coach Todd DeSorbo took the reigns at conference rival Virginia this past summer.

On the women’s side, the meet began with UVA pulling out a win in the 200 medley relay, 1:39.31 to 1:39.67, thanks to a 28.73 breaststroke split by Vivian Tafuto.

The Wolfpack roared back with a 1-2-3 finish in the 100 free, led by Hannah Moore, who touched in 9:46.06. UVA responded with a top three sweep of their own in 200 free. Morgan Hill took the win for the Cavaliers with a 1:44.81.

It continued to be a back-and-forth battle throughout the day. UVA’s Anna Pang parlayed the fastest back half in the field into a 53.47 win in the 100 back. Then Julia Poole touched out Tafuto in the 100 breast with a 1:02.21.

From there, UVA rattled off five straight wins. First, Jenn Marrkand took the 200 fly in 1:54.42, touching almost six seconds ahead of the next-closest finisher. Then, Caitlin Cooper swept the sprint frees, taking the 50 free in 22.24 and then coming back after the break to take the 100 free in 49.36. UVA also swept the top three spots in each of those events.

The Cavaliers kept the brooms out for the 200 back, where Paige Madden just touched out teammate Erin Earley 1:56.56 to 1:56.64. Another Cavalier, Mary Claire Tansill, made it five-straight wins with a 2:14.02 in the 200 breast, but Poole earned 2nd in 2:14.73 to break up UVA’s streak of sweeps.

Moore earned the distance double with a 4:47.29 in the 500 free to earn the Wolfpack their first win in six events. Pang took her second win with a 53.19 in the 100 fly, then Marrkand touched first in the 200 IM with a 1:59.25, although that event was exhibitioned, with the win officially going to Poole and her time of 2:01.79.

NC State closed things out with a 3:19.60 in the 400 free relay.

The Wolfpack were the dominant team on the men’s side, as they won all except one swimming event, not counting exhibitioned events. They got things rolling early on with a 1-2 win in the 200 medley relay, led by a 1:27.06 from their A team. NC State would also take the 400 free relay at the end of the meet, marked by 42-mid legs by Ryan Held (leadoff) and Justin Ress (anchor).

Held and Ress were two of the four NC State men who pulled off doubles on the day. Anton Ipsen led things off with a 8:56.10 in the 1000 free, and took the 500 free later on in 4:21.59. Held pulled the 200 free (1:36.79) and 100 fly (46.80) double. Rees swept the sprint frees with times of 19.82 and 43.31. Coleman Stewart threw down a 46.28 to take the 100 back, along with a 1:43.79 win in the 200 back later in the meet.

Jacob Molacek won the 100 breast, one of the closer races of the day, with a 54.80 to UVA’s Keefer Barnum‘s 54.90. James Bretscher got in a 1:44.70 victory in the 200 fly over teammate Andreas Vazaios, who later earned a win of his own with a 1:46.70 in the 200 IM, although NC State was swimming exhibition by that point.

UVA’s sole individual swimming victory of the day belonged to Matthew Otto, who led a Cavalier top three sweep of the 200 breast with a 1:58.68.

NC State Release

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – In its first dual meet of 2018, the #6/15 NC State men’s & women’s swimming & diving team split its dual with #23/8 Virginia as the men overcame the Cavaliers while the women fell to UVA Friday inside the University of Virginia Fitness & Aquatic Center.

Team ScoresMen
#6 NCSU 193, #23 UVA 100

Women
#8 UVA 178, #15 117

Quoting the Coaches
Swimming
“Good, solid meet for our teams today,” said head coach Braden Holloway. “I thought both teams performed very well. Obviously there was some good competition up in Charlottesville and it was a great team victory for the men led by our divers today, hats off to them. A few new zone cuts and two sweeps to get the meet started. I think Anton Ipsen led the way for us in the distance events, Coleman Stewart today in the backstroke had an unbelievable day. Those were his best in season swims and obviously having Ryan Held and Justin Ress there to put points on the board in the sprint events, free and fly, goes a long way when you’re trying to win the meet. A few guys who got their hand on the wall, James Bretscher had a pretty solid day and Jacob Molacek in the breaststroke won a tough race. Andreas Vazaios closed out with the 200 IM and while I think there were some areas we could have been a little bit better but all in all, I thought we competed fairly hard today and a lot of our depth really helped out.

Now it’s back to work, we have a week before we go against UNC-Chapel Hill and again it’s away, so pretty tough but that’s the way it is. We’re looking to finish our dual meet season strong.”

Diving
“The women missed the small things that ultimately lead to the result,” said diving coach Yahya Radman. “It was a good fight from all three women, but we were outmatched by UVA. Very pleased with the men. Holt punched his ticket to his first zone meet which was the goal. Stu and James exchanged leads throughout the day and eventually split the events. Details will be the focus when we get home, but for now, it’s a very positive day for diving.”

The team of Haan, Duffield, Lexie Lupton and Vasiliki Baka won the 400 freestyle relay in a time of 3:19.60 seconds while on the men’s side Held, Molacek, Izzo and Ress posted a time of 2:52.39 seconds in an exhibition.

Top Individual Performances
The Wolfpack completed a one-two-three sweep in the women’s 1000 freestyle; Hannah Moore finished first in 9:46.06 seconds, Tamila Holub took second in 9:53.99 seconds and Anna Jahns took third with a time a time 9:58.09 seconds. Anton Ipsen also ensured NC State saw success in the men’s 1000 free with the Ipsen winning the event after touching the wall at 8:56.10 seconds.

Moore and Ipsen also took first on their respective sides in the 500 freestyle as Moore posted a time of 4:47.29 seconds and Ipsen completed the race in 4:21.69 seconds.

Along with his success in the relays, Ress also won the 50 and 100 freestyle events in times of 19.82 and 43.31. Held, another major contributor in the relays, also finished first in the 200 freestyle after he touched the wall at 1:36.79 seconds and in the 100 butterfly, finishing in 45.92.

Julia Poole won the 100 breaststroke after she posted a time of 1:02.21 seconds and the 200 IM thanks to her finish of 2:01.79 seconds.

Coleman Stewart had an impressive day in the backstroke events; he won the 100 backstroke in 46.28 and the 200 backstroke in 1:43.70 seconds.

NC State also saw success in the men’s 100 breaststroke and 200 butterfly, with Molacek winning the 100 breaststroke in a time of 54.80 and James Bretschertouching the wall at 1:44.78 seconds to win the 200 butterfly.

While an exhibition, Andreas Vazaios posted an NCAA ‘B’ cut of 1:47.70 seconds in the 200 IM which was the fastest time in the race.

Diving
The Wolfpack divers had a strong day on the boards as it ended the day with a one-two-three sweep on the one-meter board. Stewart Spanbauer tabbed a mark of 342.60 to finish first, James Brady posted a score of 33.60 to finish second and Holt Gray finished third with a score of 311.48. The trio’s scores were all NCAA Zone marks.

On the three-meter board, Brady took first, earning a score of382.20. Spanbauer finished second with a mark of 321.68 and Harrison Mitchell‘s point total of 287.78 saw him finish third. Brady and Spanbauer’s scores were NCAA Zone marks.

On the women’s side, Madeline Kline earned a pair of NCAA Zone marks as she finished third on one-meter with a 285.15 and third on three-meter with a score of 275.70. Rachel Burston took fifth on one-meter with a total of 250.53.

Up Next
The Wolfpack makes the short trip to UNC-Chapel Hill for another ACC dual as it takes on the Tar Heels at 5 p.m inside Koury Natatorium.

Virginia Release

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.- The No. 8 Virginia women’s swimming and diving team defeated No. 15 NC State, 178-117, while the No. 23 Cavalier men fell to the No. 6 Wolfpack, 193-100, on Friday (Jan. 19) at the Aquatic and Fitness Center in Charlottesville, Va.

“It was a great meet today,” head coach Todd DeSorbo said. “The teams were pretty excited. After last year, NC State came in and took down the Virginia women at the dual meet and again at the conference championships, ending a pretty long streak from our program. So, the women were out for a little bit of revenge. They really stepped up to the challenge. NC State is a phenomenal team. I know that they will be good at the end of the year at the conference championships and we will have to battle with them again. We are really proud of our women. They swam really well. Jenn Marrkand again leading the way. She set a pool record in the 200-yard butterfly, winning two individual events. The most exciting race of the day was probably the first race, the 200 medley relay. It came down to the wire. We were fortunate to get our hand on the wall first and gain some momentum. I am really happy with how they performed today, but we’re putting it behind us as we have the Tar Heels coming to town tomorrow and they are going to provide us another great challenge.

“The men are obviously a much different story. NC State is arguably one of the best programs in the country, on the men’s side. That is where our men are heading. We look forward to getting to that level and challenging them really soon. It is great to have them (NC State) come to town and to compete with them. Our men stepped up and raced really well. They did not back down from a very good caliber swim team. We are happy with how that went. Just like the women, we have to move on from today and get ready for North Carolina tomorrow. Overall, I am very pleased with tonight.”

The Cavaliers set three AFC pool records during the meet. The women’s 200-yard medley relay team of freshman Abby Richter (Henderson, Nev.), junior Vivian Tafuto(Hummelstown, Pa.), freshman Anna Pang (SINGAPORE) and senior Caitlin Cooper(Atlanta, Ga.), respectively, recorded a time of 1:39.31. Sophomore Morgan Hill (Olney, Md.) set a new pool record in the women’s 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:44.81, while senior Jennifer Marrkand (Westford, Mass.) set a pool record in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:54.43.

Additionally, the women’s team recorded two first-place finishes from Cooper, who topped the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 22.24 and the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 49.36. Marrkand captured her second first-place finish in the women’s 200-yard individual medley with a time of 1:59.25, while Pang finished first in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 53.47 and the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 53.19.

Freshman Paige Madden (Mobile, Ala.) finished first in the women’s 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:56.56.

The Cavaliers swept the 200-yard breaststroke with sophomore Mary Claire Tansill (Bristow, Va.) winning the women’s side with a time of 2:14.02 and freshman Matthew Otto (Newark, Del.) winning the men’s side with a time of 1:58.68.

In diving, sophomore Sydney Dusel (Naperville, Ill.) finished first in the women’s 1-meter dive with a score of 293.70, while junior Kylie Towbin (New Canaan, Conn.) finished first in the women’s 3-meter dive with a score of 347.10.

The Cavaliers will host North Carolina tomorrow for the team’s final home meet of the year. Diving will begin at 11 a.m., followed by the swim meet at 1:30 p.m. Virginia will recognize nine seniors prior to the start of the swim meet.

Yeah, after they lifted lightly, they went home took a nap and then got massages. I was at the meet and many of the UVA swimmers had the purple suction cups all over their bodies. Which tells me that they were getting up for this meet. Morgan Hill dropping 5 seconds in the 200 free for a 144 is a clear sign that at least some of them rested. And if she didn’t rest then she will go 139 at the ncaa’s.

I never used the word taper. I said rested. Resting your muscles includes getting massages and cupping. A muscle that has been massaged or cupped is much more rested than ones that have not. You can bet your bottom dollar that no one on NC State got any massages or cupping before they swam the meet. The proof is in the fact that Mallory Comerford the NCAA Champion went 148 in her 200 free this exact same weekend that Morgan Hill went 144. I’m looking forward to coming back here and pointing out to you that Morgan Hill goes 144 at a ACCs and NCAAs with a full rest and in a suit.

I can tell you aren’t extremely into swimming… swimming after a massage is hard to adjust for some people, so maybe Desorbo wanted to make sure his swimmers were used to it before a championship meet, and in the process kick some butt… 2nd. Just because someone swims faster than someone else (who has a better best time). Doesn’t mean they are rested…. some people can randomly go fast. Aka a lot of the Texas guys… where they randomly go stupid fast tiles in practice/orange-white meets. And besides, who cares if they rested? Winning is winning. There’s a reason behind what they are doing and there’s a reason Desorbo has his job and same with Holloway, and you aren’t the… Read more »

Joel, you need to read better. Again, only the UVA fans are using the word taper, Please get it right. Nobody is saying they tapered. Taper lasts more than a week and involves more than simply resting.

Again, you are incorrect. The original poster implied they tapered which started this string of comments which now makes all of you comments of “only UVA fans mentioning taper” look more and more ridiculous. Please stop. #readbetter

Nobody mentioned taper except you. Resting is not taper. To get up at 5am to lift is not an indication they didn’t rest. The difference in times from last week to this week does say something though, whether UVA rested or they were just ‘up’ for the meet because NCState beat them last year. I know NCState women sprinters have injuries. Regardless, the real test comes at ACCs and NCAAs, not a dual meet.